129 Afghan prisoners released

Kabul: As many as 129 Afghans held by NATO and US forces on suspicion of being involved in anti-government activities were Saturday released from the Bagram prison, Xinhua reported.
There was no evidence to prove their involvement in the insurgency, said Gen. Mohammad Yar Barakzai, a defence ministry official in charge of prisons.
The NATO-led coalition last year handed over the control of the Bagram detention centre to the Afghan government.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered the authorities to review cases of more than 3,000 prisoners held in the centre.

The released prisoners were detained in Kandahar and neighbouring Zabul and Uruzgan provinces.

Karzai has repeatedly offered to hold peace talks with the Taliban. However, the outfit has categorically rejected the offer, saying there will be no talks until foreign troops leave the country.

The Afghan president and his US counterpart Barack Obama will hold talks on a security pact between the two countries later this week.